Halloween Memories
by David Knight
Summary: Halloween has always been a special holiday for Kira, but this particular Halloween, the entire Dino Thunder team gets some very unexpected surprises.
1. The Memorial

_**Disclaimer: **__I don't own any of the characters. Just the writing of this story. Takes place during the fall semester of School in Dino Thunder, which makes it before the start of the Evil White Ranger storyline. This is story is dedicated to both of my grandparents on my father's side of the family, both of which died close to Halloween, my grandmother in '99 and my grandfather just last year._

**Halloween Memories  
****By David Knight**

Connor McKnight and Ethan James walked to their teammate Kira Ford's house to pick her up preparation for the upcoming Halloween party at the Cyberspace Cafe.

"Can I ask, why David Beckham?" Ethan asked of the Red Ranger, seeing the very simplistic costume. "I mean, you are soccer player in real life already."

"I don't like large extravagant costumes," Conner replied, as he was dressed very simply, especially in comparison to Ethan's. The Blue Ranger was decked out in full body green armor. "Dude why in the world are you dressed up as the guy from Halo?"

"Cause I like Halo," Ethan defended himself as he finally found the house with the matching address.

Except he didn't expect it to be so decked out for the season. Spider webs, a stationary Frankenstein, a witch on a broomstick, a vampire's coffin, and lots of pumpkins all around and not a one smashed. "Dude, you notice how Kira's house looks part of the season?"

"Makes you wonder how it looks when it's _not_ Halloween," Connor replied.

"Well we wouldn't know, since this is the first time we've ever been here," Ethan said.

The door opened and the two young men saw a woman dressed up as the Bride of Frankenstein holding a bowl of candy. Her face was covered with a mask.

"Well," she said, looking casually at the two Rangers, "you two look a bit_ old _to be trick or treating."

"Um no, we're here to pick up Kira," Connor told her.

"So you two are friends of my daughter," the Bride said, taking off her mask to reveal features that were similar to Kira's. However, she was older and had shorter hair. "Kira, your friends are here!" She looked back to the boys. "I'm Ellen Ford. I have to say this is a real treat. She hardly ever brings anyone over."

"Really?" Conner asked, intrigued. He'd never really thought much about Kira's social life outside of their career as Rangers, but he'd never even considered that she didn't have _anybody _else.

"Well, it's not my place to explain that… but she is _such_ a good girl," Mrs. Ford said, sounding almost as though she wanted to change the subject to avoid further awkward questions. "So where are you all going?"

"Hayley's Cyberspace Café for her Halloween bash," answered Ethan.

Connor felt his foot tapping the ground. "Geez," he groaned, as he glanced at his watch, "you'd think she was putting make-up on or something."

"I guess you don't know," Mrs. Ford said. "Kira takes this day very seriously."

"Really?" Ethan asked, looking with surprise at his friend's mother. "She must go all out for a costume then. I wonder if she's going as a witch or a goblin or something really scary."

"Well I think I know something she's _not_ going to go as," Connor said assuredly. "Something cute, something girlish, or something that is totally fem... fem..."

"Connor?" Ethan asked, noticing his friend's stare. "What are you...?"

What they saw behind Mrs. Ford was a girl dressed in a short-sleeved blue dress with an upturned collar and what looked like a white apron over it. She was also wearing long white socks and a pair of Mary Janes. Her face was obscured behind a plastic mask, with a small nose, big blue eyes and pouty pink lips pursed in a perfect smile. Blonde hair touched her shoulders, and she had a black headband on top.

"Well, do I do Alice justice or not?" the girl asked, her lips moving to form a smirk even if her eyes were frozen.

"K-Kira?" Connor stuttered, not expecting this at all.

"Well I ain't a goblin, that's for sure," said Kira, her voice showing how amused she was by the boys' reactions.

"But... but you..." Ethan stuttered as well, waving his hands in shock at her costume.

Kira just smiled as she put her hands around both boys' shoulders and walked them out the door. Kira took her mask off for a moment and gave her mother a hug and then they gave each other a kiss on the cheek.

"You'll be alright?" Mrs. Ford asked while she pulled the Bride of Frankenstein mask back over her head.

"Yeah, I will be. I'm big enough to do it myself, Mom," said Kira, adjusting her 'Alice' mask now she had it on again. She saw her mom go back inside and come back with a cell phone.

"Just in case… and if not, just to let me know how things are going at that party you'll be at," Mrs. Ford told her daughter.

"Thanks Mom," Kira said, giving another quick hug before going over to her friends.

"So what is up with you and the mask?" asked Ethan.

"Not to mention, the dress!" exclaimed Connor.

Kira laughed and it scared the boys a little because she looked so cute with that mask on. "Well maybe I'll tell you if we can go someplace else first before the Cafe."

"Okay. Where to?" Connor asked.

-----

"The cemetery?" questioned Ethan as they arrived at a cemetery outside of town, not too far from where Dr. O lived.

"Why did you want us to come here?" asked Connor.

"Not _you_, just me," Kira said to them, sounding awfully quiet and somber. "Could you guys just wait ten, maybe twenty minutes for me? After that we'll leave."

Both boys were unsure of what was going on in Kira's mind but decided to give her the space she asked for.

Kira didn't feel them coming behind her as she made her across the cemetery along a path that she knew by heart.

When she got to a certain gravestone, she took off her mask, showing her face; showing her tears. "Hey. How you been?" she began, looking as if she were talking to no one in particular.

"First time I've ever come by myself on this day. Don't worry. Mom will be here later or maybe tomorrow. I know, I know, we should be here together, but there's a reason for it," Kira continued, her voice choked up. "I have friends now; really good friends. They're waiting for me back at the car... well I guess if they were such good friends I'd have told them exactly what this is all about. But it's not like they could understand this, ya know?"

She put her hand on the gravestone, her tears flowing. "I miss you so much. Not a day goes by that I don't think about you. How much I loved you. That we loved you. I..." She suddenly stopped as she heard a sound she did NOT want to hear. Not now.

Invisiportals opening.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the Yellow Ranger all alone on Halloween." The voice was Elsa's, sounding haughty and smug. "And dressed up like the little girl you are."

"How fitting for you to already be in a cemetery, for this is where we will bury you!" taunted Zeltrax, his voice displaying confidence. He seemed sure of himself.

The Yellow Power Ranger saw the Tyrannodrones starting to circle her, yet she didn't care. Her hands were already balled up into fists in barely-contained rage.

"You dare?" she growled, her voice so low that they could barely hear it.

"What?" asked Zeltrax, not having heard her.

"YOU DARE!!!!" Kira roared, her sonic scream lashing out, stronger than ever before, knocking all of the drones and Mesogog's lieutenants to the ground. "You _**dare**_ to attack me _**now**_, and _**here**_ of all places!"

When Zeltrax and Elsa saw Kira's face, they realized it was not the one they were used to seeing. This time, her face gave a glare that would give even their Master a run for his money.

"You are so going to pay!" vowed Kira, bringing up her morpher. "DINO THUNDER, POWER UP!!!"

-----

The moment Conner and Ethan heard Kira's Ptera Scream, they morphed instantly and rushed to the scene. They arrived with their weapons drawn, expecting to take on several dozen drones, a monster, maybe even Zeltrax and Elsa.

What they found were drones all right but they were all on the ground not moving. Whatever had taken them out had definitely done a _very _good job of it. Zeltrax and Elsa were there, but they were fighting for dear life against...

"Kira?!" Ethan cried, staring in shock at his friend. In their entire career as Rangers, he'd _never _seen Kira looking _this _angry before.

"Dr. O, I think you better get down here," Connor said through his communicator.

Kira slashed at Elsa with her Thundermax Saber, causing Elsa to drop her sword. Kira then kicked her away. That gave Zeltrax time to strike Kira across the chest with his sword.

"You will pay for this humiliation!" Zeltrax declared, firing a blast at Kira.

Kira dodged the attack, but it rocketed past her and subsequently destroyed a gravestone. "NO!!!" Kira screamed. She turned around, picked up Elsa's sword and started rushing at Zeltrax just as he began to fire at her again. He might as well not have bothered. Even after she was hit, the Yellow Ranger didn't stop charging towards him as she roared like a vengeful demon.

"Why? Why won't you go down?!" Zeltrax cried in disbelief at what was happening. He watched as Kira jumped up, one hand on Elsa's sword while using her other hand to use her blaster to fire off a shot at Zeltrax's sword hand, giving her the advantage... and allowing her to pierce through part of his armor with Elsa's sword.

"Does it hurt, you monster?" Kira roared, ripping off her helmet so Zeltrax could see her face. She was a woman possessed, intent on making the monster pay for what he did. "Do you know what you've done?" she yelled, as she pulled out her Ptera Grips and started slashing at Zeltrax. "DO YOU? You're an animal! You aren't even human! You don't care about any life at all, not even the dead! You're an _abomination_!!!"

Each one of her denunciations was met with stabs into his armor. Zeltrax tried fighting back, but in his current state it was taking all he had to stay alive.

Elsa began getting up, intent on firing a shot at Kira's back when she noticed Conner and Ethan looking down at her.

"Try it, and you're history," Connor said to her, his blaster pointed right at her. He had no intent to kill her and Elsa might know that, but she also knew even if he didn't go for the head shot, at this range he could still hit her and it would hurt. A lot. With a sigh she laid back against the grave, awaiting her fate.

Connor didn't know what this was about, but no matter _how _over-the-top he thought Kira might be acting- charging head-on at Zeltrax wasn't exactly something you did when you were _calm_- he wasn't going to let his teammate get struck in the back.

"Mer... mercy..." Zeltrax groaned, not believing he actually said those words to this girl, of all people.

"_Mercy_? Show you mercy when you have shown me, the city, even the dead none?" Kira growled, her eyes burning with rage and fury. "I'll give you what you deserve you son of a..." her hand dropped prepared to put the dagger down into Zeltrax's face, only for it to be stopped.

"No."

The calm and collected tone of Dr. Tommy Oliver, the current Black Ranger, snapped Kira back to the reality of the situation. Zeltrax looked up to see his 'savior' standing behind the Yellow Ranger. He felt repulsed at the idea of owing anything to the man who'd ruined his life once already.

"Why?" Kira choked out.

"Rangers don't kill. We destroy monsters, but we don't kill," replied Tommy calmly and evenly as he looked down at Zeltrax. "And even if they are monsters, we don't kill them out of sheer hate and rage. If we do, we become no better than them." He looked at Kira. "Kira, stand down, and get off him. Please."

For a few moments, it looked like Kira wouldn't do that at all. Then, she got up and moved away.

"Get up Zeltrax. Get up and get out of here. You and your friends," Tommy said, holding his weapon at the ready, just in case Zeltrax tried a double cross, even in his condition.

Zeltrax got up and backed away as Elsa pulled her sword out of his armor. A black substance leaked from his wounds.

"Who would have thought you had such a nasty streak?" Elsa said to Kira.

"You don't know anything about me," Kira said, her voice showing the depths of her loathing of the two evildoers.

Zeltrax looked at his enemies. "Another day... but definitely not in a cemetery again. It would seem you have an advantage here." The villains then vanished along with their foot soldiers.

"Okay everyone. Power down," Tommy ordered, and everyone did as they were told. Not a second after that he noticed Kira rush to the destroyed grave. She looked at it and then started to cry, until she noticed something.

"It's not it... it's not his grave." She then scrambled looking around, trying to get her bearings.

"His grave?" Connor asked. "Kira what is going on? What was...?"

"NOT NOW CONNOR!!!" Kira snapped as she still kept searching, perplexing everyone even further.

"...okay..." Ethan said, a bit freaked out by Kira's outburst.

"Kira," Tommy said gently, grasping her arm. "Can we help at all?"

Kira didn't say anything. Instead she froze and then saw her mask, still on the ground where she left it; right by his grave. She rushed to it and hugged the gravestone. "Thank you... thank you God for not letting it be destroyed."

"Kira, what is...?" Conner stopped. So did everyone else when they saw the grave and the writing there.

_Here lies Douglas Ford  
__Born March 11, 1957  
__Died October 31, 1998_

Kira let her tears show as she looked up at everyone. "Conner, Ethan, Dr O, meet my father." She looked back down at the grave. "Daddy, these are my friends."

Tommy nodded gravely. "It is good to meet you, Mr. Ford."

"Your... dad?" Ethan said in shock.

Connor was at a loss of words. "Kira... you..."

"Spare me the pity, Conner," Kira said sadly. "It's not as if any of you knew my dad is dead. I mean, it's not like we've ever talked about our home life at all. Thing is, almost nobody knows my dad's dead. Well, around here anyway."

"Do you want to talk about it with us, Kira?" Tommy asked of his student carefully. The death of someone close to you was never easy.

Kira sighed. "We used to live in Crossworld City. My dad was a freelance industrial designer and did his work in our basement. Every Halloween we'd make our place look really spooky. I'd always be something scary, even when I was a baby - a witch, a devil, a vampire. Back then I was a normal girlie girl, always wearing dresses and playing with makeup kits and dolls."

"You? Play with dolls?" asked Ethan. The image of Kira, even a little Kira, playing with dolls just seemed bizarre at best.

"I was a girl once upon a time," Kira said softly, her back against the grave of her father, as if it were his body, his arms around her own. It gave her a sense of comfort.

"And then?" asked Tommy.

"Six years ago... his heart stopped. I was in a werewolf costume, going to scare him..." Kira started to say, finding her tears coming down. "He was in his chair... I screamed... and he fell out of his chair and to the ground. I tried to get him to move, tried everything, but he wouldn't move. He never moved again!" cried Kira, letting it all out as if she were re-living it. Suddenly, she felt arms around her, giving her a shoulder to cry on. This prompted her to look up and see the identity of the person who'd taken it upon himself to comfort her.

"It's OK, Kira...it's OK," Conner told her softly as he tried to be comforting. "Just… do what you need to, OK?" He had never liked seeing girls cry. It felt somewhat awkward, holding Kira as he was right now, but he knew in his heart it would have been worse to do nothing at all.

"After he died… everything changed," sobbed Kira as she looked at the grave through her tears. "Dad's life insurance policy saved us from going under, but we couldn't stay in the house any more. Mom and I moved to Reefside a month after the funeral. We buried him here in Reefside because this was where dad grew up and where he said he wanted to be buried. Mom took up working in an elementary school as a teacher. She had been a teacher before meeting my dad. But every day we felt the ache. We changed; me most of all."

"You stopped thinking like a regular girl?" Connor surmised.

"Swore off dolls and other typical girl stuff. It was just me and Mom. I had to be tough, had to be able to help Mom out as much as I could. My dad's death made me what I am today," said Kira.

There was something nagging at Connor though. "But if he died on Halloween..."

"Every night my dad would tuck me into bed and read me stories like _Alice in Wonderland and_ _Cinderella_; stories that had princesses and other heroines in them. He used to call me his little princess every day. On Halloween- his favorite holiday- I'd become something other than his little princess," Kira explained slowly, wiping the tears from her eyes. "Mom and I both decided that we'd honor him by celebrating the holiday as if he were still with us. In Mexico, this is also known as the Day of the Dead, a time when spirits come up for a night. I'm not his little princess any more- I wasn't even _before _this whole Ranger thing started- yet every Halloween… just for that one day, I dress up in a costume that would make him think of his little princess."

"Kira... I didn't... I mean we didn't..." Conner started to say but Kira put a hand over his mouth.

"Like I said before, Conner, it's not like any of you could have known. I never said so, remember?" Kira assured him, a slightly saddened expression on her face at the thought of her lost innocence.

While Conner sat with her, Tommy turned to Ethan. "You guys are still coming tonight, right?" he inquired softly, not wanting to disturb Kira.

"Well um..." Ethan started to say though Kira spoke up.

"We will be." Kira started to get up, picking up her mask from the ground.

"You sure you OK?" Connor asked.

"Thanks for the shoulder to cry on," said Kira as she gave the Red Ranger a lopsided smile. "Wasn't really expecting it, but I'm grateful for it."

Tommy nodded. "Glad you're coming; I don't want you to miss this." The teens could almost hear his smile in his voice.

Conner raised an eyebrow at that as he glanced over at his mentor. "And what's that supposed to mean, Dr. O?" he asked casually.

"Leave it. I like surprises," chided Kira as she hit Conner lightly on one arm. "Well, from friends anyway, so long as they don't involve practical jokes."

"Good. I'll see you when you get there - or when I do," said Tommy. "Travel safe."

"We will," Connor replied as he looked over at Kira as she put her left hand to her lips then put that hand on her father's grave.

"Bye Daddy," she murmured quietly. Demorphing, she pulled her Alice mask back on. A sidelong glance over at the grave that Zeltrax had destroyed had her speaking up. "Something has to be done about that."

"Don't worry. Hayley and I'll figure something out to fix that," promised Tommy. "I'll see you there."

"So now that we know why you came here, aren't you going to tell us about the mask?" wondered Ethan.

"Oh, you mean why I got a Barbie mask with the Alice hairdo wig on top?" Kira smirked, her confidence returning. "I'm considered the Avril Wannabe in school. I don't want anyone seeing me wearing a dress unless I absolutely want them to. I _do _have a rep to keep up, after all."

The teens had a laugh then as they walked away, with Tommy still looking over the grave of Kira's father.

"Your daughter is under my wing and I know you're probably watching over her," Tommy began to say after a few moments' pause. "I want you to know, I'll do everything in my power to make sure she stays safe; that they all do." He put his hand on the grave and closed his eyes. "I hope you're resting well, Mr. Ford. Wherever you are, know that your daughter is in the best of hands."

Tommy then left the grave to return home and change. He had a party to get to and his friends were waiting for him; both at the party... and in his own home.

----

Trent opened the door and walked into the Cyberspace Cafe. Hayley had told him the Cafe would be closed until five that day. That's when the party would begin. She had also told him to come half an hour early to help out.

He just hadn't expected the Cyberspace Café to look so radically different. Yesterday it was normal. Today there were cobwebs almost everywhere. Fog, just deep enough to hide the tile, lay on the floor. Other light fixtures within large busts of monsters and other horror figures were hidden in various corners of the building. Jack-o-lanterns were very common. There was one on every table, each with a different face.

"Nice Da Vinci, Trent."

Trent turned to source of Hayley's voice, which came from the back room. Out walked a woman wearing a skintight, purple, lycra cat suit, which hugged her entire body, emphasized her curves, and made her look very attractive. Her elbow length black leather gloves and almost thigh high leather high-healed boots were the only color contrast in her outfit. Over her head was a purple colored mask molded to be like the head of a cat with two cat ears at the top of her head. Raven black hair came out the back and reached her shoulders. Her eyes, nose, and mouth were exposed. Her red lips came into a smirk and she held a whip that looked as if it was a cat's tail. "What's wrong? Cat got your tongue, _meow_?"

"Hayley?" Trent asked in disbelief. He couldn't believe that was really Hayley in that outfit.

Catwoman laughed as she pulled off her mask and then removed a wig of black hair. "Surprise!" exclaimed Hayley, "weren't expecting this were you?"

"No... not at all," Trent stuttered. He was absolutely flabbergasted. He couldn't believe what his boss looked like. _What am I thinking?_ He chided himself. _Apart from anything else, she's at least a whole _decade _older than_…

Whatever that train of thought might have led to, Trent cut it off when he suddenly noticed a peculiar look on Hayley's face. "What is it, Hayley?"

"Actually…" He heard a click. "I'm not Hayley." The voice was no longer Hayley's. Most importantly, the accent was definitely NOT American. "But would you treat me as if I were Hayley? I'm... a surprise." She smiled coyly.

Trent felt very faint. He didn't think his boss could pull off something like this. "A surprise... for whom?"

'Hayley' winked. "I'm not going to tell you. Hayley says you're trustworthy, but what you don't know, you can't tell." She settled the wig on top, pulled the mask back on, and then he heard the click again. "Now, I'm going to need some help just getting used to this," she said again in Hayley's voice. "Think you can help me?"

Trent let out a smile. "Sure."

"By the way, I was telling the truth. That is a nice costume," Catwoman purred.

"Actually it's renaissance wear. I'm just going as a painter in general," clarified Trent before he turned to indicate the café around them. "So, how did this happen? I mean, yesterday it was-"

"Just plain normal?" a girly voice called out from the back, as if she had a bit of a giggle in her voice.

"Let's just say it took a lot of work among the three of us to get this place in shape, Trent," added a deep feminine voice which was both pure and sensual.

Trent watched as two more women came out and stood beside Catwoman. The first was a yellow-orange skinned alien woman wearing a purple sequined collar, a pair of bikini bottoms that were of the same purple material, and a gold belt buckle. Stripes, barely covering her ample breasts, came down over her chest. Flaming red hair went down to her waist and purple boots completed the ensemble.

Beside her was an equally bizarre yet well-endowed woman. She looked like a clown, her face white save for the top right part that was painted black with jagged edges. A tight red body suit hugged all of her body, pushing her chest up. There were black and white playing card symbols on her stomach. Over that she wore a short purple jacket with yellow accents that mimicked slashed sleeves from medieval times.

"Are one of you Hayley?" asked Trent.

The three women looked at each other and all uttered, "Maybe."

"We'd kinda like to keep this as much a surprise as we can, Trent. You alright with that?" asked the alien girl.

Trent shook his head. "Whatever. All I know is, whomever you're doing this for, it's going to be interesting to see it in action."

The clown girl let out a girlish laugh, throwing back her head. "Interesting? It's going to be fun! Probably the best fun any of us had since High School. Oooh, I am such a ditz," she said putting a hand over her face in mock embarrassment before offering it to Trent. "Call me Marion. Like Marionette."

Trent took the hand... almost. "Joybuzzer?"

Marion shook her head. "Oh how did that get there?" she laughed.

"You are taking this _way_ too seriously," the alien girl said, looking critically over at the clown.

"Okay, okay, Starfire. I promise not to act like the Joker from Batman," Marion replied in exasperation. Her red lips parted to show a wide smile. "But I've never gone out as anything close to this. It feels really good and so will our little surprise, won't it 'Selina'?"

Catwoman chuckled. "Oh, I can't wait. And don't forget, it's 'Hayley'."

"So ready to start this party 'Hayley'?" asked Starfire.

"Ready as I'll ever be," Catwoman said with a Cheshire grin.


	2. The Party

Kira, Ethan, and Conner got out of the car after parking it near the Cyberspace Café.

"Honestly, does it ever feel hot under that mask?" Ethan asked.

Kira rolled her eyes even though no one could tell she was doing so behind the large baby blue eyes on her mask. "Do _you_ ever get hot underneath that Halo helmet?"

"Y'know, _this_ is why I don't wear elaborate costumes," Connor smiled, amused by his friends' conversation.

"Oh, so you've always gone as an athlete or sports star then?" Kira quipped.

Conner began to open his mouth to counter but stopped.

"Dude, I think she got ya," Ethan laughed along with Kira.

"_Not_ funny," Conner muttered as he opened the door and they walked in. There were quite a few people already there in various costumes. On the stage he could see a band dressed up like fairy tale characters. More specifically, the March Hare, the Mad Hatter, the Cheshire Cat, and the White Rabbit from _Alice in Wonderland_. He turned to Kira. "You're playing tonight?"

"Well, for half of the gig," stated Kira in a matter-of-fact manner. "We're playing some rock and some Halloween jams. When we aren't playing, we'll just let the DJ and the sound system play some tunes."

"OK, but still, how are you going to keep people from realizing it's you?" questioned Ethan. "I mean, you said you were wearing that mask to _keep_ people from seeing you in a dress."

"Not to mention, people have heard you sing before," added Conner. "They'll figure it out the moment you start, even with your mask on."

"Please, you think I'm _that_ unprepared?" asked Kira. "I already spoke with Hayley. So far no one knows it's my regular band up there and that's how it's going to stay. She also said she had something that would give me a voice that no one would ever suspect I could fake." She had a concerned look on her face. "But, where is she? I did tell her I'd be dressed as Alice. I don't see her anywhere."

"Right here."

They turned around to see Hayley in a very slinky Catwoman costume. "How can I help you?"

"Hayley?" Connor stuttered as he saw Ethan showing a similar form of disbelief. They couldn't believe how... attractive she looked in that outfit.

Kira had a bit of fun at their shocked expressions but was also surprised. "I really didn't see this coming. What made you try this, Hayley? Not that you didn't pull it off well."

"Yeah… _very_ well," muttered Ethan, earning him a stomp on the foot by Kira.

Catwoman shrugged. "I saw the movie the other night."

"Yeah, but the movie was awful- didn't have _anything _in common with the original version- and the costume…" Connor shook his head, still in shock. "Well, this wasn't it."

Catwoman laughed a little. "Just checking. Actually this Catwoman costume is from the comics. I found a picture of it when doing a web search."

"I should have known," said Ethan a bit relieved. "No way you'd wear something Halle Barry did."

"Not to mention that I can't believe she wore something that skanky," Kira muttered in distaste.

Catwoman laughed. "Not _that_ movie. I'd completely forgotten about that one. I meant _Batman Returns_. Michelle Pfeiffer."

"Oh right!" Kira exclaimed. "Totally forgot about it. Once you got past her being a bit loopy- never was entirely sure about her working with the Penguin-, she was actually a good Catwoman." She shot a look to the boys even with her mask on. "Please don't say a joke about black leather and such."

"Yeah, I think we've had enough of that for now," replied Conner once Ethan and he had recovered their wits, so to speak.

"So, what can I help you with?" Catwoman inquired, looking casually over at Kira.

"Well you remember what I asked, about doing something about my voice so that when I sing I won't get caught or anything?" Kira asked. "You did remember right?"

"Of course I remembered." She moved around the counter, retrieved something from under it, and handed a small plastic case to Kira. "It's ready for you."

Kira opened it up and saw it was a small circular piece of black metal that looked a little larger than a quarter. There was a small tab on one side and on the other side was a piece of paper with a flap.

"It's a voice imitator chip- like that thing they used in _Mission: Impossible 2_ when wearing the masks," explained 'Catwoman'. "First you pull off the paper flap so that you expose the adhesive. Then, you put it where you want it, preferably close to your mouth. Once there, you just touch the device hard with your tongue to turn it on or off."

Making sure no one was around, Kira bent to the floor. Her friends formed a circle around her, as if to guard her. She took off the mask, placed the chip inside and then put it back on. Her friends all stepped away as she looked at them. "Well, do I sound like Kira Ford to you all now?" she asked them.

"Not unless you have a British accent as well as less edge and more sugar in your voice," answered Conner.

"Good to know, Old Chap. I'd hate to be ferreted out like a weasel," said Kira, getting a bit too much into speaking British.

"Please don't talk like that. I don't think Alice ever talked like that." Ethan shook his head.

"Nah, but it's fun messing with ya now ain't it?" Kira chuckled.

Conner shook his head, but couldn't help but feel like he was getting a treat. He was getting to see a side of Kira that he never dreamed possible.

"I'm glad it works," said Catwoman with a grin. "Enjoy the party."

"Well, I'd best be off to check out the systems on stage. Cheerio for now, Gents," Kira gave a girlish laugh as she curtsied to Ethan and Conner before going to the stage.

Ethan shook his head. "She is having _way_ too much fun with this."

"Yeah, but I think she's got a right, don't you?" asked Conner.

Ethan just nodded.

A few minutes after Kira had gotten on stage, her band started playing. No one knew that it was Kira up on stage with her band. She sounded like a British pop star instead of her normal style of music.

_So far it seems to be working_, Kira thought as she looked out at the crowd, noting her friends as well as Cassidy and Devon. _I'm not surprised by the choice. She's a princess and he's her loyal retainer_.

As time went on, the Cafe became more crowded. Even so, Ethan and Conner managed to get a table for themselves and Kira, as well as for Dr. Oliver for whenever he showed up.

"Hey it's been almost an hour since we last saw Dr. O," Ethan said to Connor. "You don't think Mesogog sent the goons down after him alone?"

Conner laughed. "After the thrashing Kira gave to them, I doubt it." His eyes landed on an orange-skinned alien with very little in regards to clothing. "And I thought Hayley was putting out something sexy."

"Dude, are you thinking clearly?" asked Ethan in annoyance.

"Yeah I am," Conner replied in a bit of a daze.

"Tommy lives quite far from here," said Catwoman from behind them. "Was he even in costume when you saw him last?"

Conner nearly fell out of his seat but Catwoman kept it from falling over. "Um, no, he wasn't… Where did you come from Hayley?"

Catwoman pointed. "Behind the bar, of course," she answered, laughing gently. "Besides, Tommy is notoriously late. But he does manage to arrive."

As if on cue, the door opened and four more people entered into the Cyberspace Cafe. They walked toward the direction of the teens and Catwoman.

First, was a young man with short black hair, wearing a brown cloak over a white tunic, beige pants, and black boots. He had a lightsaber attached to his belt.

Second, was an African American male who was dressed like a rapper. It might not have been as creative or as inventive as the costumes around him. However there was something unique in the way he wore it.

Third, was as a young woman of Asian origin dressed as a female stage magician. White gloves covered her hands, while a long dress shirt with a bow tie of the same shade covered her torso. An equally snowy waistcoat was buttoned over her flat abdomen, while a black suit jacket with knee-length tails completed her upper-body outfit. Black leather bikini bottoms, long, black leather boots, and black fishnet stockings embraced her long, slim legs. She wore the typical magician's black top hat, and silver earrings of stars dangling from crescent moons twinkled against her mane of raven-black hair.

The final two were definitely comic book characters. The first one was a young man with black hair and a black eye mask on his face. He wore a form fitting black bodysuit with a blue bird over his muscled chest.

The last member of the five some was a man dressed in an armored black bodysuit. He had black boots on his feet and a pair of black armored gloves on his hands. Around his waist was a yellow colored belt which was divided up by blocky square-like sections. Over the chest of his suit was a yellow oval shape and inside of that oval was a black bat shaped symbol. Lastly, he had a long black cape.

_Nightwing and Batman_? Ethan knew them from sight, seeing as he had once played a video game with those characters in it, as well as having seen all of the _Batman_ movies. The one costume may have resembled a Robin suit somewhat. But apart from the cape, it had looked very much like the Nightwing outfit.

"Hm..." Ethan heard behind from him. He turned as Catwoman approached the newcomers. "So, Batman," she purred. "Want to dance?"

"Why not?" Batman said, taking her hand. "I do owe you a dance after all."

"Thank you," she said.

The Jedi looked over to Batman. "So these are the new guys?"

Batman grinned. "Yeah. Wait a bit, and let me introduce you properly... after this dance."

"Scuse me a sec, but I think there's someone I'd like to have a dance with," said the rapper as he started over for the alien girl Conner had been staring at before.

The lady magician laughed. "He will never change." She looked over to Nightwing. "Dance with me?"

Nightwing nodded as he was lead out onto the dance floor.

The Jedi was about to sit down when suddenly he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around to find a blue haired white faced clown girl. "Hey Obi-wan, mind if have a set with you on the dance floor?" she asked cheerfully.

"Not at all," he said, and offered her his arm.

Ethan and Conner sat at the table alone again as they watched everyone dancing. "Feeling out of the loop huh?"

"Yup," Conner sighed. "Though once this song is over, I think we'll be having a surprise revealed."

-----

"Sorry, but you know me and time," Batman said to Catwoman while they danced.

"Yes, I do," Catwoman said. "All is forgiven. I noticed you didn't come in alone."

"Yeah, thought I'd surprise you and the kids," Batman replied. He had a smile on his face. "Glad you didn't actually take that suggestion for the Halle Barry costume; that was meant as a joke."

She snorted. "I found a picture of that online. Not a chance of ever getting me in that."

"Like I said, a joke," Batman chuckled. "You pulled this costume off rather well. Purple looks rather good on you Hayley."

"Thank you."

"Anyway, after what Zeltrax and Elsa pulled off today, I am glad I brought the gang here to meet the kids."

"Was it bad?"

Batman shook his head. "Yeah. They attacked Kira when she was in the cemetery, visiting the grave of her father. He died six years ago today."

"I bet that went over well."

"I had to stop her from killing Zeltrax," Batman said. "He did destroy a grave. We'll need to figure out some way of fixing that later."

"I'm sure we'll come up with something."

As they danced, he noticed something about her movements. "Didn't know you could dance this good."

"You don't know a lot about me," Catwoman said, grinning.

"Really," Batman said just as the song was ending now.

"Okay ladies and gentlemen, we'll be taking a bit of a recess, but don't you worry; we've got a robotic DJ playing Halloween classics to help ya out till we get back from having tea and crumpets." Alice said as she and the Wonderland characters got off stage, leaving the monster mash to start playing.

Batman shook his head. "Hayley, I say it to you often, but you are amazing."

Catwoman bowed gracefully. "Thank you. I'd better check on Trent to make sure everything is going well. See you later."

"You too," he went to go find the magician and rapper were getting out of a dance.

"We kinda switched partners during a spin," the rapper said.

"Well then let's go get my former sidekick," Batman said.

The lady magician shook her head and pointed. "Usually, I'd agree, but not when he seems to be enjoying himself."

Batman looked and saw Nightwing with the orange alien talking. A lot. "Any idea about what?"

"When I heard some tech speak, I was glad to switch out," the rapper shrugged.

"And where's our favorite Jedi?" Batman asked but saw him finishing up a dance with a clown girl, who had gotten somehow into a split and then sprung back up.

"Thanks Obie. Gotta split," the clown laughed as she pirouetted away, looking for someone else to have some fun with.

Batman and the others whiled right up to the Jedi. "Was she a pain?" the magician asked concerned.

The Jedi laughed. "Hardly. It was fun."

"Speaking of 'fun', I don't think we should distract my partner from his new friend," Batman said, showing the Jedi what Nightwing was doing.

"Isn't it always the way?" the rapper sighed.

"What? That all the girls you drool over at first glance just seem to go off to someone else?" the magician chuckled.

"Have you guys seen anyone else you might recognize?" Batman asked. "I invited a few others to meet us here, but I didn't have time to look and they didn't tell me their costumes."

"No not really," the magician said with the rapper nodding.

The Jedi then looked over to a singer that was flanked by a ninja and a werewolf, and were coming closer to the table where Ethan, Conner and now Kira was. "I think we found three more."

Batman followed his line of sight. "Excellent."

-----

No sooner had Kira sat down and start talking again with Connor and Ethan did she notice a trio coming close to their table; a werewolf, a singer, and a ninja. She also noticed a Batman, a Jedi, a rapper and a magician girl head over to them. "Guys?"

"Don't worry, I think now is the surprise we were expecting," Connor said as he noticed the two groups of older people were facing each other.

The singer just smiled. "So, did you buy that suit or was it already in your closet with the rest of your black clothes Tommy?"

Batman grinned. "Good Will," he said, and the ninja laughed.

"I can't go past one of those without laughing," he said, and the werewolf nodded.

"Neither can I."

The singer glanced between them. "Why?"

"Remind me to tell you some time about finding costumes before you came into town," the Ninja said. "You won't believe it."

"So Dr. O, you going to introduce us to your friends?" Kira asked.

"Yes. Ethan, would you go retrieve Nightwing? He's needed for this conversation."

"Sure," Ethan said as he walked around and went to go to Nightwing. "Your partner wants you. Says it's urgent."

"If you pardon me for a moment," Nightwing said, deciding to be like a gentlemen to kiss the alien's hand. He could have sworn he saw her cheeks become red for a moment.

Soon after, Nightwing was with them. "So, now can you do the introductions?" Connor asked, wanting to know the big secret.

"Yes, I can. Conner, Kira, Ethan, I'd like you to meet Jason Scott, Trini Kwan, and Billy Cranston." He gestured to the Jedi, the magician and Nightwing in turn.

All three Dino Thunder teens just let their shock be shown, though Kira was glad to be wearing a mask, though even in that mask her jaw was dropping. "Three of the original power rangers?"

"Nice to meet you all," Trini said kindly to the current Rangers, giving a sweeping bow.

"Tommy's kept us up to date," Jason said, grinning at Conner's thunderstruck expression. "You've done a good job."

"Yeah, though I can't believe you turned out to be my replacement," the rapper said with a grin before Nightwing could speak. "By the way, Zack Taylor, the original Black Ranger. Who would have thought Technicolor Tommy would have gone to black; I was betting purple if you ever switched powers again."

Tommy rolled his eyes. "We've never had a _purple_ Power Ranger on any team."

"And there probably never will be one," Billy said with an amused look. He looked over to Ethan who was having a look of awe. "Try not to be nervous."

"I'm not... well I am, sorta," Ethan shook his head. "Just had a lot of surprises."

"There's an understatement," Kira said amused in her currently British voice. She looked over the other three. "And what's your story?"

"We're… well, we're the replacements," the Ninja said with a grin as he lowered his mask while the werewolf removed his mask to show his face. "Adam Park, Rocky deSantos, and Tanya Sloan."

"Feels like a regular reunion," Zack commented on how big the gathering was.

"Almost," Billy pointed out. "Of all the Rangers there were chosen through Zordon, we still don't have our pink Rangers or Aisha here with us."

"You _did_ remember to invite them didn't you?" Trini asked Tommy, knowing how bad he was with memory.

"Aisha was out of reach," Tommy said, rolling his eyes slightly, "and Kim and Kat both said they had other plans. Please, guys, I managed to get a Ph.D; the only time I forget things these days is if I'm VERY distracted."

"Which was about every day in high school," Rocky smirked. "What with Rita, Zedd and then the Machine Empire and Divatox breathing down our throats."

Tommy sighed, long suffering. "No, back then it was much easier to forget things," he said. "It was just the fate of the world at stake. Now I have to teach." He paused and grinned. "I ought to check in on Mrs. Applebee, so she knows I wasn't a complete loss."

Trini hugged him. "She never thought you were a loss," she said gently, and turned to Kira. "Would you like to join me for a drink?" She gestured at the bar. "It looks like they might have smoothies."

"Sure," Kira said, deciding to get to know her predecessor first hand a bit more. _Or should I consider both female rangers my predecessors_? she asked herself idly. _I mean, I've got Yellow's colour, but Pink's original zord_…

"If you excuse me, I think I'll join my fellow Yellows," Tanya said join up with Kira and Trini.

"Well, if we're dividing up by colour," Jason said, indicating himself, Billy, Rocky, Connor and Ethan, "how about we five grab a drink and talk a bit about the old days?"

"Sounds good; count me in," Zack added, smiling slightly before he glanced over at Tommy. "Care to come with?"

"Nah, you guys go ahead; I'd like to just see if I can spot anyone else," Tommy replied, as he nodded reassuringly at his friends. "I appreciate the offer, but trust me, I'll be fine."

Nodding in understanding, the assorted Red, Blue and Black Rangers got up and headed for the bar to order a new round of drinks, leaving Tommy sitting at the table with his eyes fixed on the door for any sign of a familiar new arrival.

"Well, aren't you just stuck playing solo," a voice said, just as Tommy was putting down his drink.

Tommy heard Hayley's voice and saw Catwoman along with Marion and Starfire come down and take a seat at the table. Catwoman took off her mask to show Hayley's face. "That feels good for a bit."

Tommy nodded. "I understand. I'd take this off, but getting it back on is _not_ going to be fun, so I won't." He gestured out over the dancers. "This is great, Hayley."

"You're welcome Tommy," he heard Hayley say; however, it didn't come from Hayley. Rather it came from Starfire.

"Yeah, you have any idea how long it took me to set this up?" Marion said but in Hayley's voice. She looked over to Starfire and Catwoman. "So glad to have extra hands on stage."

Tommy blinked. "Ventriloquism?" he ventured, sounding confused.

Starfire and Marion pulled from the back of their heads to pull away masks. Both of them put their masks on the table and revealing them to be... Hayley.

"Surprise!" all three Hayleys grinned.

"You're triplets?" he asked faintly, eyes wide behind his mask.

All three Hayleys just smiled mischievously. "Maybe."

He rolled his eyes. "Same attitude."

"Oh come on Tom, can't you tell who the _real_ Hayley is?" Catwoman Hayley asked.

"And that would happen to be me," Starfire Hayley stated. "I'm the only one that could have come up with something like this."

"No way!" Marion Hayley fumed. "_I'm_ the real Hayley; I'm the only one smart enough to come up with a voice imitator chip and gather the two of you here."

"So _that's_ what happened to Kira's voice," Tommy mused briefly to himself, before he turned his attention back to the Hayleys and shook his head. "Ladies, I'm not going to guess; the chances that I'll get it wrong are far too great."

"Oh come up on Thomas," Catwoman Hayley smirked. "You can't tell us..."

"...that you aren't curious? Surely you must be thinking…" Starfire Hayley continued smiling.

"... of a couple of possibilities," Marion Hayley grinned. "I mean there aren't that many girls to pick from now are there?"

Tommy folded his arms. "I'm only _dressed_ as a detective, ladies. If you know me- which it seems you do- then you know I'm not good at detective stories."

"Oh yeah," Marion Hayley put her hand on her chin.

"There was that time during our senior year..." Starfire Hayley began.

"Where we had to learn who was the culprit- on top of that whole business with Archerina, I might add," Catwoman Hayley continued.

"And it turned out to be Detective Stone in the end." Marion Hayley finished. All three Hayleys grinned at the look on Tommy's face as they all said. "This is so priceless." as they took out a camera and took a picture of him.

Tommy, however, wasn't astonished so much as he was confused. "Culprit?" he asked. "For what?

"For the," "Whodunnit" "Party of course" Each one of them said in from left to right. _This is so much fun_, they thought, each of them smirking slightly at the knowledge that they were just driving Tommy up a wall.

Seeing his blank look the Hayley's erupted into laughter. "And you said your memory had gotten better Tom!" Starfire Hayley cackled.

"I never said it helped me remember what I'd forgotten back _then_," he protested. "Only that I had an easier time remembering things _now_."

"Yeah." "Sure." "Whatever" the three Hayley's said from left to right seeing Tommy shake his head. Catwoman Hayley looked concerned. "I'm so sorry Tommy. Are we driving you batty?"

Marion Hayley couldn't help but laugh. "Batty. Good one Hayley."

"Why thank you Hayley… I think," Catwoman Hayley replied.

Tommy sighed and stood up. "Well... This has been fun. And to keep it fun, I'm going to dance with you." He reached out and took Marion by the arm, gently, and turned his gaze on the other two. "Don't go too far," he warned. "I'll dance with one of you next."

"Actually, you should dance with Starfire since you already danced with me, meow," Catwoman Hayley purred.

"And when you have danced with me, we'll let you in on who is who," Starfire Hayley said grabbing her mask and pulled into what Tommy could see was a body suit and not a woman who had her body painted orange.

Tommy smiled. "It doesn't mater, kitty. I'll dance with you again, and this time without the assumption that you are Hayley." He turned to Marion. "My lady, please," he said gently.

"Just let me get proper," Marion Hayley said, pulling her clown girl mask over her face, tucking in her red hair. Tommy then heard a click and pop and saw the clown girl's lips broaden into a wide smile. "Tee-hee. Now I'm ready to dance Batsy!" She said, her voice no longer Hayley's but her original clown girl voice. She stuck her chest out as if to show off her goods, and wrapping an arm around one of his, she giggled. "After you, 'Detective'."

Tommy chuckled and led her onto the dance floor.

-----

Kira, Trini, and Tanya had various degrees of shock and such at what they witnessed from the table they were at. "I cannot believe Hayley went through with... what ever it is she's doing."

"It's definitely something Tommy wouldn't have expected," Trini replied.

"That's something else I can't get used to. Hearing you call Doctor O, Tommy," Kira said to her fellow Yellows.

"Then we're even," Tanya said in kind. "Cause I can't believe I'm actually hearing Tommy being called as a Doctor."

"Well, that's how things go, I guess; people change," Kira shrugged, as she sipped at her drink before she shook her head wistfully. "God… I still can't believe that he went from being a Ranger to being my science teacher…"

"Yeah, how'd you get your powers anyway?" Trini asked curiously. "He never actually mentioned that…"

"Oh, we just… kinda stumbled across the Dino Gems on a field trip and they bonded with us," Kira replied, shrugging in an attempted nonchalant manner. "None of us were really expecting it, but you know how things go; life's always got something unexpected to throw at you."

"Tell me about it; I definitely wasn't expecting to become a Ranger when it happened," Tanya shrugged as she looked over at her predecessor and successor. "I mean, I'd heard a bit about them- giant robots and alien monsters aren't really the kind of thing you can keep quiet- but living in Africa, I wasn't expecting to actually _join _them."

"Oh yeah, you joined during the whole 'Orb of Doom' thing when time wound backwards and they ended up using the Zeo powers, right?" Kira asked, looking inquiringly at the former Ranger. "Did you ever miss not getting the chance to use the Ninja powers?"

Tanya shrugged. "Not really; I didn't really think the bear was that cool a zord," she said, smiling over at the latest Yellow Ranger as she shook her head reflectively. "Y'know, in some ways, I envy you; at least you broke our 'yellow streak' and actually got a Zord that could _fly_. You know, the one thing I _didn't _like about my Ranger debut was that my Zord couldn't move on its own; I _always _had to be dragged into battle by Zeo Zord IV."

"And my zord was just on the ground no matter what form it took," Trini sighed, shaking her head slightly as she reflected back on those old days. "Don't get me wrong, I _liked _the Sabre-Toothed Tiger and the Griffin Zords, but I always envied Kim's zord; at least she could _always _fly into a fight."

"Yeah, I'm sure Aisha felt the same," Tanya said, sighing slightly as she looked back at Kira. "It's too bad she couldn't be here, really, but, y'know, getting her all the way over here from Africa wasn't exactly possible on such short notice."

Kira shrugged. "Well, that's life; we can't always get what we want," she said casually, as she sipped at her own drink. "But hey, at least you guys made it; the way I see it, I still got something I wouldn't have had otherwise."

"Thanks," Trini replied, smiling slightly at her successor. "Seriously, though, it's good to meet you; it's good to know that our colors are in good hands."

"Same here," Kira replied as she got up. "I hate cutting this short, I do, but I've left the DJ on way too long and seeing as how I am entertainment, I need to get back on stage."

"You go knock 'em dead girl," Tanya said encouragingly as she watched her fellow singer and Yellow Ranger walk right back to her stage.

"Feels like a lifetime ago we were in this line of work, doesn't it, when you look at her?" she asked, glancing over at Trini as she spoke.

"Oh yeah," Trini sighed wistfully, her mind lost in recollections of the past. "A lifetime ago…"

-----

Marion just glided on the dance floor, going with a rather interesting dance style. Some seeming like jazz steps, other club scene. It was definitely a bizarre stile at first... until she decided to grab rose out of a girl's hat and put it in her mouth and began the tango with Tommy. "You dance _divinely_," she said in a voice that belied the silly girl voice she usually had.

"Thank you," he said with a smile. He never seemed to take his eyes off her, except to glance over her shoulder to make sure he didn't run into anyone, and finally took the lead from her and began a two-step.

"Remind you of anything in particular?" Marion asked with a mischievous smile as she gave a pirouette into their dance number while keeping the tango.

He smiled slightly. "I'm not telling," he teased gently.

"Now who's playing hard to get?" Marion sighed. "Just… don't spoil my fun tonight. After all, Hayley invited Hayley and Hayley to come to this party to give you a surprise you wouldn't be expecting."

Tommy looked at her seriously. "How am I spoiling your fun?" he asked.

"By being just a secret keeper," Marion said putting her arms around his neck. "But then again, I always did enjoy a good mystery." She said with a playful grin

"Ah," he said, his hands loosely on her hips, "but Batman is the ultimate in keeping secrets."

"Well then," Marion said with a grin as she saw his hands leave her lips as she brought his face closer to hers, giving him a brief kiss on the lips, parting after a short moment to give him a dreamy look. "Did that loosen your lips, Batsy?"

He smiled. "No. Not that it isn't tempting," he added at her disappointed look, then took her arm and spun her as the song came to a halt. "Thank you for the dance," he said, and escorted her off the floor. "If you would care to join me?" he asked Starfire, and offered his arm.

"I would, but someone else asked me first," Starfire said, pointing over to Nightwing.

"You don't mind do you?" Billy asked.

Tommy shook his head. "Not at all," he said grandly, and winked at them. "So, dear kitty, wish for a second turn?" he said and turned to smile at her.

"I'd be more than willing to have another ballroom blitz with you," Catwoman smiled as she walked off with Tommy, leaving others to watch. As they began to dance, Catwoman looked at Tommy and asked. "So, truthfully, are you angry with how I deceived you?"

"It's Halloween," he said. "It's to be expected. If you aren't Hayley, you covered pretty well about Zeltrax and Elsa," he said after a moment. "Well enough that I might not have guessed you weren't Hayley." He chuckled slightly, a slightly confused expression on his face. "Did that even make sense?"

"Now, whoever said that I'm _not_ Hayley?" Catwoman smirked.

"I didn't say that," Tommy smirked back. "I said that if you _aren't_ Hayley, you covered well enough that I never would have guessed."

"Well, thank you, but I _am_ Hayley… just like Starfire's Hayley and Marion's Hayley, meow," Catwoman said purring.

Tommy rolled his eyes and laughed. "Right."

"Oh come on Tom, aren't I allowed to have some fun?" Catwoman purred as she put her hands his chest, moving up to his neck. "And this suit really _does_ show off your figure… just like your Ranger suit does."

Tommy's eyebrows went up. "Oh, yeah; that was _definitely_ a Hayley comment," he said, sounding like Conner at his most sarcastic.

"It's more like a Catwoman comment," she said as she pulled him in and kissed him, giving a bit of passion into it. She stopped and looked into his eyes. "And you know what they say about Batman and Catwoman, don't ya?"

Tommy laughed, a full body laugh. "Well, no… It's just a costume."

"It's Halloween, Tommy, all about being in character as what you dressed as," Catwoman said as their dance ended and they were next to Nightwing and Starfire, who looked like they were enjoying themselves. "Care to switch dance partners Starfire?"

"That would be '_puur_fect'… to cop a pun from you," Starfire smirked as both women spun into opposite dance partners

Tommy caught Starfire and grinned at her. "Well. And how are you this evening?"

"Perfectly fine. Hayley and Hayley didn't give you too much grief now did they? It's so hard to be me that I think they might short circuit," Starfire grinned back as they ended up going into a waltz of sorts.

-----

Billy didn't stay long on the dance floor, having felt tired, but also somewhat aroused by dancing with the girl behind the Starfire costume. _Something I definitely have to figure out before I leave here. _He thought as he came back to the table, just in time to hear Conner speak.

"So," Conner said, looking curiously at the older Rangers after a moment's pause to order the drinks, "what was it actually _like_, being the first people _ever _to have Ranger powers… well, on Earth at least."

"Truthfully?" Jason mused, staring upwards for a moment before he turned to look back at Conner. "I think the thing that shocked me most was that Zordon chose _us _to save the planet."

"Yeah; that was definitely the freakiest part," Zack said, shrugging slightly as he sipped at his own drink. "I mean, not only do we have to deal with the fact that aliens are real and we've got a bunch of them coming for Earth, but we have to accept that we, out of _everybody _else on Earth, got picked to fight them?" Even though he hadn't been Blue or Red, he was still one of the original five.

"Yeah well our first time meeting Zordon didn't result in becoming rangers," Rocky said, surprising Conner and Ethan.

"It didn't?" Ethan said, looking in confusion at Rocky. "But I thought that you had replaced Jason and Zack, with Aisha replacing Trini?"

"We did," Adam confirmed. "But it happened only after a few adventures. Like having to be saved by the team from Lord Zedd, who wanted to turn the three of us into his evil warriors."

"It was during that time that I unfortunately had to take my helmet off due to the attack of Zedd's evil snake and the three of them saw me," Billy stated. "They pretty much figured out everyone else's identity after that."

"Okay, isn't that just a _little_ bit of a stretch?" Conner asked seriously. "To be able to figure out an _entire_ team just by finding out you were the Blue Ranger?"

"We got lucky," Adam said simply.

"After that, they brought us before Zordon. We were rather excitable when we first saw him," Rocky replied. "I remember even Aisha wasn't sure he was a man. But we swore never to reveal the identities of the power rangers, ever."

"The three of us were pretty much the first human support staff for a Ranger Team for a while, until the original three took off for that conference in Switzerland," Adam finished.

"And you did great, man," Zack said seriously, nodding in approval at Adam. "Couldn't have been prouder of another brother wearing my color."

"Please don't lapse into character here," Billy said jokingly. He let out a sigh. "Alien or not, Zordon was one of the wisest persons we had ever know."

"Yeah… I mean, Doctor O. may be kinda intimidating once you know the truth, but at least he was still _human_," Ethan said, as he turned to look curiously at Billy. "That reminds me, when'd you get back? According to Doctor O., you ended up living on another planet near the end of the Zeo era…"

"The 'Zeo era'?" Jason asked, looking over at Ethan with a grin. "We're divided up according to _eras _now? God, I feel so _old_…"

"Jason, knock it off," Billy said, grinning over at his friend before he turned back to look at Ethan. "To answer your question, yes, I did move to Aquitar, but I typically commute between Earth and Aquitar these days; things… well, they changed between when I went there and now."

"Uh… when you say they _changed_…" Conner asked, looking uncomfortably at Earth's first Blue Ranger, uncertain how he could say what he was trying to say.

"You mean, did things go badly between myself and Cestria?" Billy asked, smiling reassuringly at the current Red Ranger. "No, we parted amicably; things just… cooled between us, for lack of a better term."

"Ah," Ethan said, nodding sympathetically at the man who'd set the standard for his colour. "Sorry 'bout that, man."

"It happens," Billy said casually. "Besides, there's still all the good memories of that time to enjoy; I tend to focus on them more than anything else."

"Oh, you mean like when you practically single-handedly defeated Madam Woe?" Zack asked the first Blue Ranger, raising a curious eyebrow as he smiled at his old friend.

"Oh yeah, I read about that; it sounded pretty cool," Ethan said, smiling slightly at the Blue Ranger. "You channeled the others' powers to get out of some pocket dimension, right?"

"Correct," Billy said, nodding briefly at the young Blue Ranger.

"Y'know, I still can't believe I missed out on the chance to get a Battleizer; that would have been _so _cool," Jason sighed wistfully as he sipped at his drink.

"Tell me about it," Rocky added, taking a sip of his own.

"Battlizer?" Conner asked curiously.

"It's an upgrade power source that every Red Ranger since Andros has gotten," Adam explained. "If you haven't gotten it yet, chances are you will eventually; it seems to have been part and parcel of the Red Ranger package since the Space Ranger era."

"About the only thing I got like that back then was when I temporarily borrowed Tommy's powers after the whole 'Green Candle' affair," Jason murmured, an almost disappointed tone in his voice at the memory.

"What; when Doctor O. lost his powers the first time?" Ethan asked, looking sympathetically at the first Red Ranger. "Must've sucked; sorry."

"Yeah, but I was still able to save the others when Goldar and Zedd tried the same trick with their power coins; I like to think I made up for my earlier failure with that little victory," Jason said, as he glanced over at Zack and Billy.

"And then there's also been the times when a Ranger would be turned into an inanimate object, like, say… a pachinko ball," Adam said with a slight smirk on his face when looking at Rocky.

"_Don't_ remind me about that. I lost _so_ much money playing that game because of the spell," Rocky groaned. "And don't forget that _you_ got turned into a brick, lost your face to a face stealing monster, got turned into a football…"

"Alright, enough!" Adam returned. "You really want to make this into a spectacle for just about everyone on the embarrassing things that happened?" He saw the amused looks on the two current ranger's face and didn't feel like having anyone give any more damning info. And looking at the rest of the old guard, they didn't either.

Thankfully Jason turned the topic of discussion around, "But then, we always had those moments when we had to stand on our own without the main team; how about when Zack had to tackle Spidertron?"

"Can we _not _go into too much detail about that?" Zack asked, looking anxiously over at his former leader. "I mean, seriously, I had enough trouble with Tommy planting that spider on me after the fight…"

"Talking of which, where'd Doctor O. go anyway?" Conner asked, turning back to study the floor before them even as he made a mental note to ask for more information about that particular topic later; it sounded like it might be kind of amusing…

-----

"You guys are really something," Tommy said seriously. "You know that that. Though I guess I should have expected something like this."

"Why? I am the real Hayley, or maybe one of them us. I just don't know any more," Starfire said, her emerald green eyes showing mischief.

"My point exactly."

"So, honestly, no guesses at all?" Starfire questioned. "Have we really fooled you that well?"

"Oh, I have guesses," he said, and twirled her. "I'm just not telling you what they are."

"Spoilsport," Starfire sighed. For a moment Tommy thought she would have left. She then surprised him by quickly grabbing the back of his head and kissing him on the lips. Starfire then backed off a smile on her face.

Tommy's eyebrows went up again, and he smiled. "I see," he said.

"What do you see?" Starfire smiled back.

"A few things," he said mysteriously, and twirled her again.

Kira's song finally ended and then Starfire gave a polite bow. "Thanks for the dance." she said with a smile.

"Thank you," Tommy said, and escorted her off the floor.

Starfire walked off and put her arms around Nightwing just as he was turning to ask Ethan a question, causing him to suddenly look rather flush. "What's wrong? Am I just too hot to touch, or is it something else you feel?"

Billy looked red as a tomato now, never thinking he'd be this twisted with a girl.

Over at the nearby Yellow Ranger table, Trini gave a nod to Jason and smirked. "We can see who's got a crush now." She lost her smirk and just smiled at him. "I envy you. Other than Andros and Ashley, you're the only one that's done it yet."

"Done it?" Ethan asked confused but wasn't when he noticed the ring on Jason's finger.

"You're married?" Conner asked.

"Yeah," Jason said with a smile. "Two years, now, almost."

"Speaking of which, where is your wife?" Zack asked. "You would have thought she'd be here."

Jason hesitated. "She... couldn't make it, unfortunately."

Billy broke away from Starfire as he looked at Jason. "She's here... isn't she?"

Jason paused. "Did you see her?"

"No, but I can tell," Billy said simply. "Unlike Tommy, I _actually_ play the part of the detective."

"She's here?" Tommy asked. "Where?" He turned to look at the dance floor.

Starfire leaned close to Billy. "Shut up about that," she hissed softly, even as Jason made a cutting motion across his throat. "It will be clear later, just be quiet."

Tommy turned back. "I didn't see her. Do you know her costume?"

"No. I don't," Billy said.

Tommy gave his old friend a narrow-eyed look. "You just said you knew she was here," he said. "How can you know that without knowing her costume?"

Billy instead decided to smirk. "You haven't changed at all. I have you a hint. Take it and figure it out." He turned to Starfire. "And you owe me a dance now."

"Fair enough," Starfire smiled.

"A 'hint'. Riiight," Tommy huffed as they walked off. "I think I need a drink. Anyone want to join me?"

"I'd hold off on the drinks," Catwoman said, wrapping her arms around 'Batman's' neck. "There's something interesting about to happen."

Kira and her band finished their current number. "Okay everyone. We're going to go onto a new number for the rest of the night... but first a small break. We'll be back in thirty." She walked off stage then while the zombie costumed dj started playing out songs.

"Where they going?" Conner asked.

"Just a break," Tanya said easily. "Chance to get something to drink, and a chance for the DJ to show his stuff. Adam, care to dance?"

"Love to," he said, offered his hand, and led her onto the dance floor.

"Drink sounds good, too," Rocky said. "Anyone want to join me at the buffet?"

"Sure thing," Conner replied, going with Rocky.

Starfire just smiled as seeing them spread out. A smile that spread to the other two Hayleys. Trini frowned. "Okay. What are you all smiling about?"

"Nothing," Marion giggled. "Just that it's almost time for the questions to be answered."

Tommy looked from one to the other. "Are you going to make this a huge thing?" he asked.

"If you mean are we going to drag you on stage and then have you guess who we are in front of everyone… then a big ol' _yep_ to that one, Batsy," Marion cackled. "It's going to be a _real _blast!"

Tommy snorted. "For you, perhaps," he said, but he was grinning smugly.

"Oh my, it seems that the forgetful one is actually thinking he's a real detective," Starfire said, nudging Billy.

"Well, he did have the longest tenure as Ranger leader among any team," Billy said with a slight smirk. "He's not brain dead. I mean, he switched out of being a race car driver and became a teacher."

"Best move I ever made," Tommy said, shrugging.

As the DJ continued to play for a few more minutes, Starfire just looked at the girls and they nodded. "Well now, times up detective."

"Try not to put your foot in your mouth," Catwoman purred.

"Though that would look really funny," Marion said, pushing him from behind.

"Hey, I can walk," he protested, without resisting her.

"Good luck Tommy," Trini said, enjoying this show.

"Yeah man, don't break a leg," Zack said.

The four of them ended up on stage with Starfire taking the mic. "Ladies and gentlemen, its time for a little case of mistaken identity. Now I'm Starfire right now but actually..." She went under neck and pulled off her face to reveal. "I'm your lovely proprietress Hayley."

"Oh, but you can't be," Catwoman said, standing next to her. "I am." She pulled from the neck, removing the mask of Selina Kyle, only to reveal the face behind to mask to be Hayley's, much to the audience's shock and disbelief.

"And you're both lying," Marion said, taping Tommy on the nose. "I am!" She pulled her clown face off, only to reveal the face behind that mask was yet again Hayley, furthering everyone's disbelief.

Tommy just grinned, folding his arms over his chest, watching them all.

In the crowd Cassidy was making sure Devon was getting his camera for this. Though it was a bit jerky since he was in that suit of armor now.

"Now everyone knows Doctor Tommy Oliver from Reefside High, right?" Starfire Hayley asked, with everyone saying yes.

"Well we just thought that we'd like to see, since he came here as Batman, the so-called 'Dark Knight _Detective_'," Catwoman Hayley began to say.

"If he knows who we are!" Marion Hayley said taking her mike away.

"Give that back!" Catwoman Hayley snapped.

"Bite me!" Marion Hayley laughed, pulling down an eyelid and sticking her tongue out Catwoman Hayley, getting the audience roaring out loud in laughter.

"Aren't I multi-faceted?" Starfire Hayley quipped.

"Quite," Batman said.

"So then, shall we begin?" Starfire Hayley asked. The Audience said yes. "Alright then the first to go will be..."

"ME! MEMEMEMEME!" Marion Hayley said, suddenly jumping into Batman's arms and hugging him, causing him to topple over and fall to the ground, with her on top of him. "I want him to see if he knows who I am!" She giggled. The scene was so comical everyone was clutching their sides.

"Oh my goodness!" Trini was gasping for air, trying to hold her self together as she couldn't stop laughing. She looked over at Jason who had a smirk. "Tell me that _isn't_ who I think it is!"

"Only if I can kiss you again," Tommy said, his face not betraying anything as to whether or not he did know who Marion Hayley was.

Marion Hayley thought over only before smiling widely. "Um... okay honey bear!" She then grabbed the back of his head and kissed him with everything she had, drawing the audience into laughter and cat calls, loving the scene.

Conner was watching with Rocky and his friends along with Ethan, unable to stop himself from slightly wincing.

"Even if that's not Hayley," he muttered over to Ethan, "I swear it's _so_ wrong seeing Hayley going full out like that."

Tommy broke the kiss, pushed her off him and onto the floor, and stood up before offering her a hand up. "Nice try, but I know who you are, Kimberly," he said, sounding very amused.

'Hayley' took Tommy's hand, getting back up to her feet. She turned around to the audience so she could face them. Reaching at the neck, her fingers went underneath plastic skin, and started to pull upward, distorting her 'face' until the mask came up with a slight pop.

"Oh wow, it feels good have my own face again. It gets very hot wearing two masks over your head," Kimberly Ann Hart said, partly in jest and partly for real. Her hair was covered by wig cap at the moment, which she pulled off, allowing her brown hair to cascade down. "Much better, though I'll probably have mask hair in the morning tomorrow." She earned a laugh from the audience from that joke. They also noticed her entire stance changed, standing up straight yet still having a wide smile on her face. She looked over to Tommy. "So, how did you figure it out? I would have thought my whole 'Harley Quinn' persona would have really thrown you."

"Oh the persona did have my fooled," Tommy admitted as he looked at her, and then gave her a quick on the cheek. "Your kiss, however, did not."

"Well you would know after all," Kim said with smirk, giving him a kiss with her real lips, before breaking it off. "Now _I've_ kissed you." She winked before she moved aside. "Hope you figure out who the others are." She stood to the side then.

Trini and Zack sent glares to Jason who didn't mind. "That was _so_ wrong, dude," Zack said, not happy that he got kept out of the loop.

"Hey, it's not called 'surprise' for nothing," Billy said, defusing the situation. "Remember, I didn't know either."

Trini picked up on that. "And you already know who is who?"

Billy nodded. "Pretty much." He smiled looking back. "But why ruin the surprise? Let's watch and see if Tommy figures out who Catwoman is."

"Well I'll go last now that Marion- excuse me- Miss Kimberly Ann Hart has gone," Starfire announced. "Selina, it's your turn."

"Miss Kyle," Batman said with a smile, extending a hand for her to take.

Catwoman Hayley took the hand and decided to follow suit and then decided to kiss him but less forcefully as Kim did, but equally as engaging, slow and passionate. They broke off with a slight sigh.

"Um." Tommy started to say, feeling a bit concerned. "You do know Jason is about to kill us both right now, Kat."

Catwoman Hayley had a wide smile on her face as she put her hands behind her head and started to pull up and forward, taking off her mask to reveal none other than one Katherine Hillard-Scott, who looked rather coy. "He would if I didn't tell him I was going to do it in advance. That and I got something to make up for it later this evening."

Zack nudged his friend. "You sly fox."

Trini rolled her eyes. "Oh please Zack."

Tommy looked on at Starfire Hayley who he just smirked at. "Well I guess that means I know who you are now."

"Oh do you?" Starfire Hayley smirked back, put a hand to her neck and pulled up a bit, showing to everyone that she was wearing yet another mask underneath. She stopped however before getting past the chin and let the mask settle back down. She took in Tommy's shocked look and saw Kim and Kat smiling behind him. "Now then, are you SURE I am REALLY Hayley? Or could it be that I'm the last friend of yours that isn't here among you, Aisha Campbell?"

"For one, you're way too tall for Aisha," Tommy said.

"I could be wearing platforms inside," Starfire Hayley replied with a smirk.

"Okay, fine then," Tommy said with a smirk. "But you asked for it. Back in college you had a crush on me and didn't admit it, even when we were in a class project together. Then, at the masquerade ball, some girl in a mask decided to cut in and give me one very liberated kiss." He smirked a he looked on. "I get you wrong, Hayley?"

Starfire Hayley shook her head, pulled off her Hayley face, showing herself to be the one and only real Hayley. "No Tom. You got me down to a t."

He smiled. "Good. So, do I pass as a detective?"

"Well what do you two think?" Hayley asked Kim and Kat.

Kat thought about it for a few moments before saying, "Hmmm... he's passable."

"But just barely," Kim added.

"Alright. Just barely passable it is then," Hayley said getting a laugh out from everyone.

Tommy grinned, rolling his eyes. "Yeah, sure," he said, and turned to leave the stage.

"Well, seeing as I don't look nearly this good in real life," Hayley said pointing to her chest. "And human head on alien flesh doesn't look that good, I better get back into character" She smiled when she heard the crowd's laughter, even as she put the Starfire mask back over her head.

Tommy sank down at the table again, letting his breath out in a burst. "That was... interesting," he said. "Sorry, Jase."

"Don't worry about it," Jason shrugged. "I'm just glad I pulled off keeping it a secret from you all as long as I did."

"That was a brilliant piece of work though," commented Billy. "I'm sure the rest of the gang got a kick out of it."

"Speaking of the rest of the gang," Trini got up and grabbed her best friend and got her into a headlock. "Why couldn't you tell me about this? You told me over the phone you couldn't make it."

"I decided not to tell anyone about it," Kim said with a laugh, escaping Trini's grasp. "It was just easier that way."

"I ought break out my magic wand and turn you into a bunny rabbit," replied Trini.

Kim pouted. "Oh, don't do that!" she said, and sat down in Tommy's lap. "Hi. Like your surprise?"

"Definitely," Tommy said looking at her. He and Kimberly were in a state of trying to define themselves still now; her as a champion gymnast and aspiring songwriter, and him now as a teacher and ranger once more. Their reconnecting had been by chance nearly a year and a half ago. It was long distance for now, but both of them were trying to figure out just what they had now for one another.

He looked back and saw the other woman he had loved and saw her put an arm around her husband. They had broken up right around when he started working for Anton Mercer's company as an intern. Things just simply fell through in the end. They were still good friends though. "I have to say Kat that was very sneaky of you."

Kat just smiled. "Sneaky is good."

"So, how did you decide on those costumes?" Billy asked Kim and Kat.

"Hayley suggested going as comic book heroines or villainesses and had us look at a lot of images on her database," Kim explained. "I'm an anti-heroine. Hayley was a heroine, and Kat's... well you know Catwoman."

"Somewhere in the middle," said Adam, amused by the plot. "Brilliant."

"Nice to see you're all coming back now," Jason said noticing all those that had gone out for a drink, food or dance were coming back to the table now.

"Dr. O, did you have nights like this all the time back in high school?" Conner asked. This night had been bizarre and unreal, even for them.

Tommy laughed. "No. Not usually."

Suddenly the lights went out and so did the music.

"What just happened?" asked Tanya.

"Oh nothing much," Kimberly mused.

Trini frowned. "Oh, what are you hiding now Kim?"

"Was there more to your little gag?" Jason asked as this part was one that he definitely didn't know. He felt Kat put her arms around him.

"Oh, _we're_ all done, Jase, but Hayley said there was one more surprise coming up for the night," Kat replied.

"Ah," Rocky said, smiling slightly at the prospect of a new surprise. "Well, this should be fun."

The lights on the stage turned on as five cloaked figures walked back up on stage. The audience wondered just what was happening now but one by one the cloaks started disrobing.

The Cheshire Cat now was wearing Dracula's robe and attire and he looked like had some fangs now. The Mat Hatter was a lot more bulky, like a body builder, but not only that, he had Frankenstein's head now, despite having his trademark hat on. The March Hare was a lot more hairy and buffed up, though he wasn't that much of a hare as he was a wolf now. The White Rabbit still looked the same though now he was wrapped in a bunch of bandages.

"What the heck?!" Conner blinked, surprised by the change of the band's appearance.

"Did a freak show just come on stage?" asked Ethan.

"Ooh," Tanya said softly. "This is gonna be fun."

"Then that just leaves…" Conner trailed off as he looked on stage to see the last person.

It was Alice, but not as they knew her. She was now in a black and white version of her dress, her face grey with yellow eyes and red pupils. Her arms and legs had black stitches on them as if to show how she had been sewn together from body parts. She resembled the Bride of Frankenstein, only with blonde hair and a black streak, as if to imitate Disney Alice's blonde hair with the black hairclip. She took the microphone as the Wonderland Monsters went back to their instruments.

"Sorry for the delay, we just had to be modified by your friendly neighborhood mad scientist and his crazy nurse," 'Alice' said, her British accent somehow only adding to the demented appearance she was currently presenting to everyone. "You should watch out for them folks, they'll scramble your brains." She heard laughter and smirked.

"Ohhhhh boy..." Connor muttered, seeing how Kira looked now. "This really _is_ her favorite holiday."

"Really?" Rocky asked. "Cool..."

"Where'd she get the idea for that?" Tanya asked.

"For turning herself into a nightmare version of Alice? Don't look at me or jock boy," Ethan replied.

"Jock boy?" Conner protested, looking in mock outrage at his blue-clad teammate.

"Probably something to do with a few of the monsters we've been dealing with lately," Tommy said, and put his chin on Kim's shoulder. "They've been... more twisted lately."

"More twisted than Pudgy Pig?" Zack snickered.

"_Pudgy Pig_?" Conner and Ethan blinked.

"Bad example, Zack. _Really_ bad example," Jason groaned, along with everyone at the table who had faced said monster; the sucker may have deprived them of their Power Weapons for a time, but, that aside, he'd been a complete _joke _of a monster.

"I don't think you _quite_ understand, Zack," Tommy said, smiling slightly at the original Black Ranger. "Usually our monsters are something like Pudgy Pig and Eye-Guy warped together."

"...EW!!!" Just about every ranger say for the current ones said.

"What kind of a villain are you guys up against?!" Trini said, disgust evident in her voice.

"That is just one nasty image, bro!" Jason groaned.

"And that was one of the _less_ nasty ones," Tommy grinned, rather enjoying their reactions. "This guys isn't bent on conquering Earth; he just wants the world turned back to the Prehistoric era and humanity to be pretty much eradicated."

"Whatever happened to the nice, normal, 'I-want-to-conquer-the-world' sickos?" Kimberly sighed.

"They got destroyed by the other guys," Rocky said with a grin. "What else?"

Back on stage, Kira started to pump the audience back into attention. "Okay then. Let's get this started up again. For all of those monsters and movie killers out there, its' time to for the Monster Mash!"

Kim jumped to her feet. "Come on, Tom. Let's dance!"

He laughed and followed her onto the floor.

"Care to join me my wife?" Jason asked getting up.

"I'd love to," Kat said, and took his arm.

Before long, everyone got up to dance to the ghoulish tunes Kira and her band played.

_Author's note: All good things come in threes and this story has one more part to it: what happens __**after**__ the party is over._


	3. The Finale

The party ended well after midnight with everyone having left, even Trent.

Right now there was no one but those that had been Rangers and even they were starting to leave one by one. Kira hadn't taken her Alice Bride mask off yet, lying back on a couch, utterly exhausted.

"Well you look like you've been through the wringer." Kira looked up and saw Katherine, her Catwoman cowl was down behind her neck. She could see red and black hair from the top of the open bag she had in her hands, meaning her Selina and Hayley masks were inside.

"I've preformed before, but never with a costume change and wasn't exactly expecting your little act," Kira replied, pointing at her bag. "So, who convinced Hayley to go through with this act?"

"Actually, Hayley was the one that contacted me and Kim and suggested we pull this trick on Tommy," Kat said honestly, then her lips came into a smirk. "However, getting her into wearing the Starfire bodysuit... _that_ was a team effort on my part and Kim's. It was just the one outfit we knew that no one would think Hayley would wear."

Kira laughed at the explanation. "Well you got that right." She stopped laughing as she saw the somber expression on her face. "What?"

"I'm sorry about your dad," Katherine said sincerely. "Tommy told me when I was pretending to be Hayley before we sprung the trap on him. I'm glad his grave wasn't desecrated."

"Someone else's was," Kira said sadly. Even dead, an innocent person had been harmed.

"It will be fixed. That much I know for certain," Katherine assured her. "I don't know how you responded, but I'd imagine if Rita came at my on the anniversary of my father's death, the way your villains did, I'd probably act almost as you did."

Kira thought she was just trying to be understanding, but looking into her eyes, she saw it. The same kind of pain and sadness she saw reflected in her own eyes. "How long?"

"Since I was ten," Katherine said sadly, reliving those memories. "Car accident on the interstate when a truck driver hit our car. Mum and I managed to make it out alive... Dad died instantly."

"I'm sorry," Kira said. Katherine had had it worse than she had. She only saw her father _after_ she died, but Katherine… she was right there in the middle of it when it happened.

"The pain never goes away, just lessens. But I'm sure you already know that," Kat said, to which Kira nodded. "Mum remarried a few years later and thankfully my new stepdad wasn't like Cinderella's wicked stepmother." That earned a laugh from Kira. "Of course if I want to speak about wicked stepmothers, I _think_ that Rita would have to classify the worst."

"What; she's _related_ to you?" Kira asked, staring incredulously at the second Pink Ranger.

"No, but when she had me under control, I kept feeling like I was being treated like the stepdaughter, made to do every little chore," Katherine clarified. "I happen to be the first Ranger who was evil _before_ actually obtaining Ranger Powers."

Kira stared at her in shock for a while before saying, "That wasn't on the tape!"

"Are you talking about that twenty minute tape Hayley said you watched when Mesogog kidnapped Tommy?" Katherine asked and seeing Kira nod she laughed. "Please. I watched that myself and hardly consider that an accurate telling of Ranger history. It's good for getting a beginner Ranger introduced into the legacy, but as an oracle of our deeds it so isn't."

"Do you miss it?" Kira asked her. "The Power I mean?"

Katherine thought about that question for a few minutes before giving an answer. "If you asked me during the first two or three years after I gave up my powers to Cassie, then the answer would be yes. Now, no I don't miss it. I have a life now outside of being a Ranger and I am happy living that life. To everything there is a time and a place, and you'll probably find that out yourself eventually. For now just enjoy it while you can."

"Don't worry; I already am," Kira assured her.

Kat's lips formed into a smirk as a new thought popped into her head. "Karone hasn't by chance popped into town has she?"

"'Karone'?" Kira said in confusion. "Who's that?"

"Oh, Tommy introduced her as Astronema, Princess of Darkness, but forgot to mention the fact that she was also Andros's sister who was snatched away when she was a child by the forces of evil, was brought back to the light by Andros and ended up becoming the Pink Ranger of the Lost Galaxy when Kendrix was unable to carry on for a time due to… well, 'injuries' is the most accurate term I can think of."

Kira listened to that, surprised by all of these little new details about the Power Ranger history that were in fact not so little, and made her wonder one very simple question. "How could he have forgotten to mention something like _that_?!"

"That's what Karone said- or rather, _shouted_- when she saw the copy that Tommy had sent to Andros," Kat said with some amusement. "I'm surprised she hasn't tried come down and pay Tommy a visit for labeling her as an evil villain with _no_ redeeming qualities."

"She actually called me over the phone." The two women looked up and saw Jason and Tommy now standing together. "I told her it was a first draft and I was in a rush to make it at the time to make sure the new guys had something they could use to find back-up if things went wrong. I'm still working on the second version of the Legacy Datafile, which will have corrections to all the missing important facts."

"She probably threatened to turn you into a toad," Jason joked around. "You know, I _think_ she still has her Wrath Staff."

"Knock it off bro," Tommy muttered, shaking off memories of that angry phone call. Whether she was good or evil, Karone was one of the few ex-Rangers you did NOT want to be on her bad side.

"Well this has been fun, and that was a great performance Kira," Jason added, as he turned to look at the Yellow Ranger.

"Thanks," Kira replied, Jason nodding back at her before he continued.

"I think me and the missus have to get going." Jason froze when realized what he just said. "Did I just say 'missus'?"

"Yes you did," Katherine laughed as she got up off the couch.

"You have to bro?" Tommy asked.

"Have to. We both have work in the morning," Jason said with some regret.

"I'll see you outside then in a minute," Tommy replied. Jason nodded, shaking his best friends hand as he walked out the door. Katherine walked over to him, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

"Good night, Tom and thanks for being a good sport about it all," Katherine replied.

"Always will be, Kat," Tommy returned, returning the kiss he had been given. Katherine walked out, following her husband, leaving him to look down at Kira. "That was a great show," he said, grinning down at her.

"Everyone keeps saying that. But all the same, thanks Doctor O," Kira said, looking back to her Alice Bride mask, which was laying on the table next to her. She then noticed a black box was placed down right next to the mask.

"Your earlier costume and mask all boxed up for you to take home," Hayley said, as she was the one who put the box down.

"I've just got _one_ question for you Tommy," Kim said coming up from behind the Black Ranger. "How come when you were making these powers, you couldn't make a Pink Ranger?"

"No Pink Dino Gem," Tommy said simply.

"Oh."

"I think I'll leave you two alone. I mean, I don't think you two have gotten a chance to talk yet," Tommy said with a slight smile as he walked away.

"Funny guy, ain't he?" Kimberly asked Kira, who shook her head.

"Funny he isn't. Least not usually. Serious, always."

"Yup. That would sum Tommy up in a nutshell. Serious and brooding," Kimberly mused, then amended. "Well, not so much brooding these days. I think by now he's finally gotten over blaming himself for the things he did while under Rita's control."

"Oh?" Kira asked, interested on to why she would say that.

"Tommy has the biggest guilt complex for anyone, Ranger or civilian. Any time he gets turned evil and he does something wrong..."

"Wait? Gets turned evil and does something bad? As in plural?!" Kira said, jaw hanging.

"Yeah, it happened more than once. Thankfully those other few times lasted for less than a day- Zedd used a spell on him to try and acquire the Sword of Power from Zordon, this rogue Machine Empire prince made him think he was their king and the Zeo Rangers were the bad guys, stuff like that-, but even still he would brood a lot and try figure out how he was going to repent afterwards," Kimberly said with a sigh.

"Is there some sort of requirement for people having to have been evil in order to be Rangers?" Kira asked Kimberly. "Cause there's Doctor O, Katherine, now Karone who I didn't even know about..."

"It's not so much a requirement as it is the fact that the villains of the year seem to keep reaching into the Evil Ranger Box at some point or another to match the main team on their own ground," Kimberly replied. "It's actually one of the few ideas that actually get them a few victories, only to blow up in their faces later when their Evil Rangers switch sides- or, as in the case of the Space Rangers' Psycho Rangers, get destroyed."

"Wonder if we should worry about Mesogog trying that," Kira shivered at that thought. The idea of Mesogog having his own evil Ranger- or Rangers- was a terrifying thought indeed.

"Worry about it when it happens. No sense in doing so if it hasn't happened yet," Kimberly told her, a smile forming on her face. "But as I was saying with Tommy, the only thing bigger than that guilt complex, is the heart he has for other people."

"Now that, I can believe," Kira agreed whole-heartedly. "It feels kind of strange, more like awe I guess, seeing all of you past Rangers here, especially you; I mean, the colours may be different, but we _do_ have the same dino."

Kim smiled. "It's strange to think of it in yellow," she said.

"Same to thinking in pink," Kira returned, a smile on her face.

"I'm sure," Kim chuckled as she looked back at the young woman. "Seriously, though, how's the Ranger game been treating you so far? Good bad, what?"

Kira shrugged. "Cuts into the schedule at times, of course, but overall it's been pretty fun once I got past the initial shock," she explained. "I mean, there was this whole thing with Kaylee Styles- an old friend of mine before she became famous- when she ended up being aged by one of Mesogog's monsters, but that aside it's been pretty straightforward."

"Hey, you're still in the early stages," Kim said, shrugging casually. "Trust me, you want to see a bad situation, you should have seen some of the stuff I ended up dealing with; if it wasn't being sent to the past with Goldar, it was having my Power Coin stolen and used to activate some dormant zords."

"Yeah… on the topic of that, what would you say your _biggest _regret as a Ranger was?"

Kimberly stayed silent, not saying at all for a few minutes before finally giving her answer. "I don't honestly have a regret from my time of active duty. If anything, it's that I have regrets _after_ giving my coin to Kat."

"After?"

"When I went to Florida to train for the Pan-Globals. I won the gold and broke up with my boyfriend though a letter, all because I got tricked by a guy I thought was perfect," Kimberly replied. "It has been my biggest bonehead decision of my life to break up with Tommy."

Kira let her jaw drop at that. "Say what?! You and Doctor O? You were a couple? And you broke up with him through a _letter_?"

"Like I said, biggest bonehead decision of my life. Although, I can't say it was solely about the guy I met down there," Kimberly admitted. "It was… well, I was afraid things weren't work out well, letters and calls became less frequent in the year that we were apart since I left. I didn't know what was going on, or why things had gone this way. Then came the supposed, close by 'Mr. Right..."

"And you chose safety over effort," finished Kira for her.

"Nothing comes easy in this world. Nothing is easy without sacrifice or at the very least working hard. Or most simply of all, having faith in what you are doing," Kimberly stated firmly.

Kira looked up into the older woman's eyes, seeing pain in them, knowing that saying something she knew had to be troubling to Doctor O and wouldn't share with them (and why should he since it was his own personal life) was something to be respected and honored for. "Thank you."

Kim simply nodded. "You take care of yourself." She got up and noticed something in the corner. Kira saw her look and stood up, noting the sight of Hayley and Billy together, sitting at a table talking.

"Now what do you think _they're_ talking about?" Kira mused, smiling slightly at the sight in front of her.

"I don't know," said Trini, coming from behind both girls. "But how about since the rest of this place is cleaned up, we leave them alone?"

Kimberly nodded, agreeing with her best friend's assessment while Kira also agreed. It was her place, so Hayley could close up the rest on her own, though she wouldn't be alone.

And there _was_ something amusing about the thought of the first Blue Ranger together with the current Ranger team's technical expert…

-----

Tommy watched as Jason and Kat get into their car. Adam, Tanya and Rocky were also in their own cars but hadn't left just yet. They had just finished giving words of luck to his team. It felt somewhat like old times, having as many old friends together as they did this night.

"Well," Connor sighed, glancing at his watch as he looked back at the older Rangers, "it's been fun meeting you guys, but we kinda have to go now."

"Yeah, blame our science teacher; he's _always _giving us last-minute tests," Kira said, grinning slightly over at the team's mentor.

"Hey, didn't Miss Applebee occasionally do the same thing to us?" Zack said as he came up to Tommy.

"Why you..." Tommy raised a fist up in mock protest, making Zack 'run' to his car. "Funny. Very funny."

"Oh and I wasn't?" Kira asked.

"Yes you were funny, Kira," Tommy said wirily, shaking his head slightly as he looked at the Yellow Ranger, before waving them on. "Go on, get home; I'll see you all in class tomorrow, OK?"

"Sure thing, Doctor O.," Ethan smiled, as the three young Rangers walked back to Connor's car. "See you tomorrow; great meeting everybody!"

With one last wave to the other Rangers, the latest team got into the car and drove away, as did all of the other former Rangers which were in their own cars, leaving Tommy Oliver standing alone in front of the Cyberspace Café parking lot, looking after their cars with slightly wistful expressions as they remembered how they'd been back in the old days.

"You got a great set of kids there, _Doctor_ Oliver," a voice said from off to the side in a teasing tone.

Tommy felt a small wave of embarrassment at hearing Kimberly call him by that. For some reason, it felt, uncomfortable to say the least, hearing her call him by a title. "Yeah, they're a great set."

"Well, we gotta get going. Trini's going to let me stay over her place before going to the airport in the morning."

"Um, Kim… can we… talk for a bit first?" Tommy said in a somewhat stumbling tone.

A tone that Trini decided to take a cue. "I'll go back inside the Café. If I'm lucky, I'll see Billy and Hayley kissing," she said in jest, throwing a wink before walking back inside.

Tommy blinked for a few moments before asking Kimberly, "Billy and Hayley?"

"Apparently our two overachievers have the making of either a crush or possible true love. Which one, we'll just have to wait and see," said Kimberly. "So, what is it you wanted to talk about Tom?"

Tommy looked at Kim with a slightly solemn look on his face. "You remember when I said there was no Pink Dino Gem?"

"Yeah, I couldn't tell if you were being serious about it or it was just a joke," Kimberly replied.

"Well…I lied," he said, reaching into his pocket and pulling a heart shaped, gold plated pendant which he held out to her.

Kim took the pendant, saw that there was a latch on the side and opened it. She blinked in shock at what she was now holding in front of her. The object inside the pendant had a large crack down the center, and it seemed to lack the subtle glow that the other Gems had possessed when she'd seen them, but it was clearly a Dino Gem. "What happened to it?"

"I don't know. This is the way I found it," Tommy explained. "I tried to find a way to repair it but couldn't. If I could have, I would have had four stones instead of three down there when Kira, Conner and Ethan found them. As it is, the gem is useless, even to Mesogog."

"So, you're giving it to me?" Kimberly asked. "Why?"

"Because… well, I want you to have it," Tommy told her seriously, moving closer to her. "It's proof to me that even if some things are broken, if they are worth it, you shouldn't give up on them." He was inches away from her now, so close she could actually feel his heart beat. It was racing.

And so was hers the moment she felt his lips touch hers. She didn't try to fight it. She joined into it, kissing him until finally they broke away.

"Just like us," he said simply, yet with a lot of emotion behind his voice.

Kimberly stared into his eyes for a time before being able to speak.

"Maybe it's time we should take this relationship... back up a level," she said, looking somewhat apprehensively up at him. "If you're all right with that."

Tommy simply smiled. "I was hoping you'd say that."

-----

Kira stepped into her house, she told Conner thank you back at the car, she didn't need him to come the door. All and all this was one hell of a Halloween, she mused, her normal Alice mask in bag while wearing her 'Alice Frankenstein' one. It wasn't over just yet.

She turned the key to the door and soon after walking in saw her mom, sitting on the couch.

As if she was waiting for her.

At once Kira took off her mask and then took a seat next to her mother. "Mom?"

"I went to visit your father. I saw a grave not too far away from where his is was destroyed. Like it was blown apart." She said seriously, looking at her daughters eyes, not missing the widening of her eyes.

"Mom... you know..." Kira started to say, wondering if her mother was going to press her now or if she was actually going to have say anything about her extra curricular activities, when all of a sudden that was taken out of her hands.

"Kira, I'm not foolish or senile. I know something is up with you," Ellen said as she kept looking into her daughter's eyes. "The odd hours you've been keeping lately, those two boys who are your friends, which if I recall you said were too busy with your music to _have_ friends," Kira was about to protest when her mom pulled out a yellow t-shirt. "And then there's your new found yellow shirt fetish."

Kira blinked several times before saying, "Huh?"

"Almost since the day school started I've washed nothing but yellow shirts. Even your bras are yellow and I know you have bras as well as other shirts in different colors." She let out a laugh as she saw the embarrassed look on her daughter's face.

A look that turned into confusion when Kira felt her mother pull her into a hug. "M-mom?"

"I want you to understand something Kira. As long as you can promise me that you are going to be safe, I don't need to know what it is you are doing. It doesn't matter to me," Ellen said breaking the hug as she looked into her daughter's eyes with love and compassion in her own. "All that matters is to me that you are happy. I've always worried about you, after your father died. You took it even harder than I did, and that is saying a lot considering how much I loved Douglas. You never seemed to come out of it. You'd shut yourself out of the world save for me and your music. Even with your band, and I have been to your rehearsals when they were out of own garage, you never really opened up to them."

"But those two boys; when I saw them today and saw you walked out with them, I could tell they were your friends. And I know your father would be proud of you for what ever you are doing."

She sat there, listening to all of this praise, that her mother was even _accepting_ of her Ranger activities and she didn't even want to know what she was doing. And the part about having no friends, that was true. Who was she kidding? She had been a loner ever since her father passed away.

But now... now tonight, she could _truly_ say she had friends.

The first moment she felt tears come down her face, Kira hugged her mother, feeling her warm arms back around her. "I love you mom."

"I love you too, my precious princess," Ellen said motherly to her only child. She sat there for a while, holding her sobbing daughter until she finally felt her stop crying.

"So... going to pack it in?" asked Kira.

Ellen simply had a smirk as she pulled out her Bride of Frankenstein mask and put it on over her face. "Are you joking? We aren't done yet my pretty!" She cackled.

Kira matched her mother's smirk as she put on her own monster mask. "Well, I should hope not."

"When did you come off with a British accent?" the Bride of Frankenstein asked curiously.

"Just a little something a friend of mine made," Monster Alice said as she picked up the remote to the TV, preparing to go into the final part of the Ford Halloween Family Tradition. Staying in costume, sitting on the couch together, watching monster movies until they fell asleep together. "You know, we should definitely get her into helping us decorate next year."

"It would be interesting. I don't think I scared enough children this year," the Bride laughed.

"Oh mummy," Kira giggled right with her as the movie started, mother and daughter together enjoying each other's company but they turned for a moment to the very end of the couch where there was in a large picture frame, a picture of Kira as a child, her mother and her father. Though not with them in body, he would forever be with them in spirit.

As she and her mom settled into the watching the movie, they both knew, they could feel him. They never saw him, or a ghost. But at this time, in this way, on every Halloween, they could always feel him. For the Ford women, that made the night totally perfect.

"Happy Halloween, Daddy."

**The End**

_Author's Notes: It's been so long since I wrote a Power Rangers' fanfic. I had initially planned to get this done last year, but as I mentioned in my disclaimer for part one, I lost my grandfather, and just didn't have the heart or motivation to get through and finish this story the right way so waited and worked on it after I had gotten through it. I want to also dedicate this story to anyone who has lost a loved one and understands the pain that comes with it. It's when they are gone forever, do we miss them the most. _

_I'm sorry I couldn't get this all posted by Halloween but hope the ending makes up it. Next year I plan to get two Halloween fanfics in. The first is a semi-sequel to my first Halloween Story, Andros's Halloween. I say semi sequel because I still intend to one day write Zhane and Karone's First Halloween, which is what will be the true sequel, however I haven't come up with a plot that is worth of such a story yet. The Semi-sequel is called 'A Halloween Out of Time' which will be put in the same time frame as Ninja Storm, though no characters from there will appear. Andros, Ashley, Karone and Zhane will be featured, but along for the ride will be Wes, Jen, Eric and Taylor. What started out as a simple invitation for a get together on Halloween will become something no one was expecting._

_The other one will be a direct sequel to this story, called 'The Halloween Concert from Hell'. It will take place after Mystic Force has ended as Kira will come to Briarwood to end up starting to promote her first concert, but what starts as a simple promo turns first into an elaborate joke, which will be crashed by an unwelcome guest, whose actions could result in oh I don't know... the end of the world?_

_I must be really awful doing this, leaving you with such teasers. But it's also good to keep the people wanting more and believe me, you will see these two fics up next year. That is a promise._

_Until next time._


End file.
